1

2012/2013
Vibration Theory and Applications
Tutorial III

1 An almond transporter in a processing plant consists of a horizontal vibrating
table forced by electrodynamic vibrators to move in an angle f as shown in
the figure. Assuming that the static friction is high and slipping of the
almond on the transporter surface is not possible, and the almond lose
contact with the transporter at its highest position and move along a free
path until it hits the transporter on its return from the lowest position.
Assuming plastic contact, the almond keeps moving with the transporter
until the cycle is repeated. Clearly, after every jump the almond moves to the
right. Design a transporter for transporting speed of 0.5m/s.
Ans. A=0.1797m, =0.59 rad.

Answer:
Assume the vibrator motion is simple harmonic and its motion can be defined as:

Displacement: x(t) = Asint
Velocity:x (t) = Acos t
Acceleration:x (t) = -A
2
sint
( 1 )
Where A is the amplitude of vibration and is the angular frequency of vibration.

The Free Body diagram of the almond can be modeled as follow:

A
2


mg
Motion of Vibrator
Almond
pmg
mA
2
sin
mA
2
cos
2

From the question we know that the motion of the almond is periodic, so just need
to study the vibrator motion in one cycle from t = -
n
2o
to
3n
2o
:

Here are the conditions defined by question:
from t = -
n
2o
to
n
2o
, the almond follow the motion of vibrator
at t =
n
2o
, the almond reaches the highest position
from t =
n
2o
to
3n
2o
, the almond move along a free path
at t =
3n
2o
, the almond hits the transporter at the lowest position
From the below diagram we can see that at t =
n
2o
, the velocity of vibrator is zero,
and the acceleration of vibrator is A
2


The almond has the acceleration components as follow at t =
n
2o
:


o
x
= A
2
cos
o

= A
2
sin -g
( 2 )
The almond will start to move forward (at t =
n
2o
) when
o

= u A
2
sin = g ( 3 )

-1
0
1
-90 0 90 180 270
-1
0
1
-90 0 90 180 270
Displacement
Velocity
Acceleration
A
2

g

Highest Position
Lowest Position
3

Hence we can describe the velocity of the almond in one cycle (in x direction) as
follow:
o
x
(t) = _
Acos t cos -
n
2
< t <
n
2
A
2
cos t
n
2
< t <
Sn
2
( 4 )
The average transporting speed in one cycle can be obtained by integrating o
x
(t)
from t = -
n
2o
to
3n
2o
and divide by the cycle time
2n
o
:

o
x

(t) =

2n
_ o
x
(t)
3n
2o
-
n
o
Jt
=

2n
__ Acos t cos
n
2o
-
n
2o
Jt +_ A
2
cos t
3n
2o
n
2o
Jt_
=

2n
(2A cos +An
2
cos )
=
A
n
cos +
1
2
An cos
= Acos [
1
n
+
n
2

( 5 )
Substitute equation (3) into (5), we have:

o
x

(t) =
g
osInq
cos [
1
n
+
n
2
=
g
o
cot [
1
n
+
n
2
( 6 )
Above is the condition when the almond just starts to move forward and higher
acceleration can be used in actual cases.
For the drive angle , the optimal value can be determined by dynamic material
coefficient (), and dynamic machine coefficient (K).
[1]
The recommended value is
20-30. Based on another source
[2]
, the optimal parameter for Electromagnet driven
conveyors (light material) is f= 52-55 Hz, drive angle 20-30.
The question states o
x

(t) = u.Sms, using f=53.5Hz and = 2S, from Eqn (5) we

have:

A =
u
x

(t)
2n] cos q[
1
n
+
n
2

=
0.5
2n53.5cos(25)[
1
n
+
n
2

= . 89mm
( 7 )

1
M. Ramalingam & G. L. Samuel , Investigation on the conveying velocity of a linear vibratory
feeder while handling bulk-sized small parts, Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2009) 44:372382, DOI
10.1007/s00170-008-1838-1
2
M. A. Parameswaran & S. Ganapathy Vibratory Conveying--Analysis and Design: A Review,
Mechanism and Machine Theory Vol. 14. pp. 89-97
4

Note: If we choose different and , we can have unlimited combinations and
unlimited answer for A.


Different value
5 9.9 15 20 25 30 35 40
D
i
f
f
e
r
e
n
t

v
a
l
u
e

32 0.7405 0.1889 0.0823 0.0463 0.0296 0.0206 0.0151 0.0116
33.85 0.7045 0.1797 0.0783 0.0440 0.0282 0.0196 0.0144 0.0110
36 0.6676 0.1703 0.0742 0.0417 0.0267 0.0185 0.0136 0.0104
38 0.6374 0.1626 0.0708 0.0398 0.0255 0.0177 0.0130 0.0100
40 0.6105 0.1557 0.0678 0.0382 0.0244 0.0170 0.0125 0.0095
42 0.5864 0.1496 0.0652 0.0367 0.0235 0.0163 0.0120 0.0092
44 0.5649 0.1441 0.0628 0.0353 0.0226 0.0157 0.0115 0.0088
46 0.5455 0.1391 0.0606 0.0341 0.0218 0.0152 0.0111 0.0085
48 0.5280 0.1347 0.0587 0.0330 0.0211 0.0147 0.0108 0.0083
50 0.5122 0.1307 0.0569 0.0320 0.0205 0.0142 0.0105 0.0080

And based on the answer given (A=0.1797, =0.59), we can see that this answer is
given based on = 9.9 RoJs .